


White

by Hunny4



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Because Mobians Dont Generally Wear Clothes, Embedded Images, Gen, Improperly Dressing for the Weather, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Plotless, Winter, a lot of looking at snow, but still kinda fluffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-26 12:25:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17141717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hunny4/pseuds/Hunny4
Summary: Snow. It's everywhere, and it is very, very cold.Shadow has conflicted feelings, and needs someone to pull him out of it.





	White

**Author's Note:**

> This is a sonic secret santa present for blondexiaolong on tumblr!! I hope you like it :D
> 
> This was inspired by my first time being in snowy weather about a month ago!! I wanted to try capturing some of that good imagery, an endeavor that turned into this. So, fun!
> 
> Also, this takes place in a point on the timeline where Shadow doesn't have amnesia, but it hasn't been TOO too long since SA2 happened. So... it's probably some time after ShTH. But w/e the Sonic timeline is a mess dont question me
> 
> Enjoy!!

[ ](https://ibb.co/K5bG85z)

It’s damn cold.

Shadow, being the ultimate lifeform, naturally has ways of dealing with cold superior to those of most creatures. He has better ways of dealing with most everything. Still, resistance to sub-zero temperatures was not exactly in his initial pitch meeting; he’s shivering quite harshly, sitting on a park bench in the middle of the snowy landscape. Despite everything, he can’t help being a little bitter about that.

He can’t be too frustrated, though. He _did_ come here of his own accord.

Fuzzy flakes of white slowly spiral to the ground, drifting lazily along invisible paths through the air like a choreographed dance. It’s as if a sheet has covered everything in sight, glittery surface twinkling and shining ethereally in the artificial light of the lamppost. The sun had gone down hours ago, what little sun there _was_ , here in the depths of winter. Now, there’s just darkness... and snow.

It’s everywhere, and, Shadow laments once more, it is very, very cold.

He’s finding it a bit difficult to be positive about.

“Well, this is a surprise! Hey, Shadow!”

[ ](https://ibb.co/zxVZZs0)

Shadow startles at the sudden address, head swivelling to find the intruder. He finds him standing behind the other end of the bench, arms folded on top of the backrest as he leans over it; of course it would be that blue hedgehog, who else? Shadow’s eyes narrow in irritation. As if today isn’t bad enough with everything else going on.

Sonic appears unusually cozy, wearing a thick, gaudy-looking sweater and a matching scarf. It must be _really_ cold, Shadow thinks to himself; he’s never actually seen Sonic wearing any kind of clothing besides gloves and shoes, ever. He doesn’t seem the type to want extra baggage hanging on him. Shadow feels the same way, of course, so he can’t exactly blame him in any case.

“Sonic,” he deadpans, looking away in mild annoyance.

The blue hedgehog in question vaults over the bench and takes a seat, one leg folded loosely underneath him. “What’cha doing here, all alone in the snow? This doesn’t seem like one of your usual haunts.” He takes a look over Shadow’s sweater-free person. “...And… aren’t you cold?”

Shadow huffs. “What I’m doing here is none of your business, and no. I don’t get cold.”

“I don’t know, you look pretty cold to me!”

Drat. Looks like he noticed all the shivering. “I’m not,” he asserts once more, a bit of a growl entering his voice.

Sonic raises an eyebrow deliberately before speaking up again. “Okay, whatever you say, sunshine. Sure. Anyway, mind if I sit with you? It’s a pretty nice view here!”

Despite how unwilling Shadow is to confirm that verbally, it really is. In front of him is a large lake, now frozen over with the glassy surface coated in a fresh dusting of snow; where the ice peeks out, you can see moonlight reflected in such a way that the whole area seems to glow.

“Do what you want.”

Sonic shoots him a damnable smirk that Shadow promptly ignores, but then he settles down with his arms comfortably at his sides. And so they sit there, taking in the lush winter scenery.

[ ](https://ibb.co/26dkpby)

It is certainly a beautiful sight. He’d known that since he’d first found this particular bench around an hour ago; finding a particularly nice spot was kind of the goal, here. But, still…

“You know, Amy lives close to here. You remember her? She was on the space station back when… uh.”

A sigh. “Yes, I remember that. And her.”

“Hehe, yeah. So, anyway, she lives close by, and she always throws a holiday party this time of year because she’s one of those people that gets crazy into the holiday spirit, right? So, since I’m around anyway, I make it a bit of a tradition to come over to this park! Take in the sights and all that. That’s why I’m here, in case you were wondering.”

“You’re here avoiding a party.”

He looks a bit sheepish at that. “Not really avoiding, per se, just taking a breather! I can party with the best of ‘em, don’t doubt, but I like my space sometimes.”

Shadow hums in acknowledgement and diverts his attention elsewhere as they lapse back into silence.

Or, he tries to, anyway.

“I’ve never really had a chance to see it,” he says after a minute, tersely avoiding eye contact. “Snow.”

“Snow? Really?”

“Yes. I was raised on a space station, in case you forgot. Not exactly the most opportune place for precipitation.”

“Well, yeah, obviously, but... “

“And when I first woke up, seeing the sights of the planet wasn’t really top priority.”

“...Guess not. What about after all that, though?”

Shadow looked up, finally. “Which part of ‘after all that’? When I’d lost my memory? When we were dealing with that insane robot? When I was starting to wonder if I was actually… well.”

He sat up straighter.

“I just… haven’t had a chance to look around. See things, like snow. I’ve heard it’s a spectacular sight.”

“So, is it? What'dya think?”

Shadow closes his eyes and pauses. “It’s… cold. Colder than I anticipated.”

“A-ha!” Sonic exclaims with an excited smile. “You DO get cold!”

Shadow tries to berate himself for his slip-up, but he can’t bring himself to care too much. “Not as much as you do, but yes. Congratulations.”

Sonic slumps back down into the bench. “Jeez, no need to be such a buzzkill. Glad to hear you’re a person as much as the rest of us, though! Any impressions other than ‘cold’?”

“Why do you care so much?”

“What can I say?” Sonic shrugs playfully. “I’m a curious guy. As your resident adventurer and all-around nature-lover, I’d love to hear your first impressions of stuff! Just tell me!”

Shadow rolls his eyes. “If you MUST know, yes, I do think it looks kind of nice.”

A beat.

“She would have liked it.”

The atmosphere immediately loses the warmth it had accumulated, and silence reigns once more. Sonic’s expression drops, Shadow following his statement with staring off into the distance.

“Sometimes I wonder to myself… Is this the world that she wanted so badly to protect? She couldn’t have known much more about what it’s like down here than I did. Than I do. We read about snow, and about history and all of that, but… Now I’m here, and she isn’t. Maybe snow looks pretty, but it’s cold. Whatever that means...”

He seems to come back to himself and notices Sonic listening intently. He scowls at himself. “...But, that really isn’t any of your concern.”

Sonic lets out a heavy breath, the fog disappearing upward into the heavens. “Look, I never knew her, whoever she is, so I can’t tell you anything about what she would have liked. But… I’ve been around a while, you know? So I can tell you a few other things. Like, do you have any idea how excited kids can get when it snows? Running around, throwing snowballs and all that. It can get pretty crazy, especially if you join ‘em! Or, I could try to describe what it’d look like if you sat up on some rooftop tomorrow morning and saw the sun rise on all... this. With everything covered in white and all shiny? I could tell ya all that, but really, it’d be kinda useless, right? That’s all stuff you need to see for yourself.”

He gets up from the bench, standing with a small grunt and taking a moment to stretch. Then, he looks back at Shadow, open palm held out.

“So, come on! No time to waste.”

[ ](https://ibb.co/nQtvQYt)

Shadow’s eyes widen as he glances from Sonic’s face to his hand and back again. He doesn’t know what Sonic is planning on doing, where they’ll go after this. This wasn’t part of the plan. It could throw a wrench in everything. He doesn’t even know the blue hedgehog that well! He seems to take a moment to steel himself, before…

...their hands connect, and Shadow stands.

“I will never understand you, Sonic the Hedgehog.”

Sonic laughs. “I get that a lot! Now, come on, I’m taking you over to the party. You seriously need to wind down from all this depressing junk!”

“The party you’re actively avoiding, you mean?”

“Again, I’m not avoiding it!! I was just taking a break, that I am now finished with, thank you very much!”

“Most people don’t have to take breaks from parties, in my experience. Just saying.”

“Oh, come on, what experience?! If you’ve taken three steps inside a party _ever_ , I’d be surprised! Now stop whining and let’s go.”

“Is your friend going to be okay with you bringing in some random, uninvited person you found in the park? That doesn’t seem like proper etiquette.”

“First off, you aren’t a random person, second off, she definitely will, she practically invites rocks to these things, and third off, the implication that I’ve ever conformed to proper etiquette in my life is insulting. Now, seriously, let’s move it!”

Sonic starts dragging Shadow away by the hand, until he suddenly stops. “Wait, before that…”

Shadow looks at his captor in confusion as he takes his hand away and begins pulling at his scarf. After a moment, the fabric is free, and he quickly wraps it around Shadow’s neck before he has time to protest. “There. ‘I don’t get cold’ my foot! Keep that on, you masochist, before you shiver yourself into a coma.”

They start walking again, Shadow lagging behind in shock. “You can’t shiver yourself into a coma,” he says quietly, after recovering.

He’s smiling.

[ ](https://ibb.co/JmQtQVM)

Sonic notices this, and warmly smiles back as they pick up the pace to a more usual level. “Maybe _you_ can’t, but I’ve heard stories…”

[ ](https://ibb.co/DwF4hpR)

[ ](https://ibb.co/7vt35Fk)


End file.
